Monday

May 1, 2000

Spring in Hempstead

by Eleanor Farjeon

Broadcast Date: MONDAY: May 1, 2000

Poem: "Spring in Hempstead," by Eleanor Farjeon, from Poems for Children (Lippincott).

MAY DAY is one of the oldest holidays known to man. In ancient Celtic times women rose on this day before sunrise to wash their faces in the dew, a practice believed to beautify the skin. Romans worshipped a spring goddess called Maia Maiesta.

Today the TIVOLI GARDENS IN COPENHAGEN open for the season, to stay open until September 17.

On this day in 1941, Orson Welles' film CITIZEN KANE was released in New York City. Based on the life of media mogul William Randolph Hearst (played by the 25-year-old Welles), the film caused an outcry. But it went on to be judged one of the most influential American movies of all time. It featured long takes—continuous action in a single extended tracking shot—and 'deep focus': the use of a lens that gave sharp focus on action in foreground, middle distance and background all at once.

It's the birthday of writer BOBBIE ANN MASON, born in Mayfield, Kentucky (1940). She writes almost exclusively about working-class and farm people who cope with the frustrations of modern life in western Kentucky, south of Paducah. Her books include In Country (1985), Love Life (1989) and Midnight Magic (1998). Her most recent title is Clear Springs: A Memoir (1999). She said, "I basically consider myself an exile… and that's what gives me the distance to look back to where I'm from and to be able to write about it with some kind of perceptiveness… exile has a rather peculiar sensibility—you're straddling a fence and you don't know which side you belong on.

It's the birthday of novelist and scriptwriter TERRY SOUTHERN, born in Alvarado, Texas (1924) a literary hipster who collaborated on the screenplays for Dr. Strangelove (1964), The Loved One (1965), and Easy Rider (1969). His novels include The Magic Christian (1959) and Candy (1958). His ex-wife said, "I think Hollywood had a terrible influence on him. He was a very disciplined writer, worked every single day, was wonderful company, did not drink in excess. Then Hollywood gave him permission to act out the dark side that all of us have. It's an old story. Few people have the character to withstand that."

It's the birthday of novelist JOSEPH HELLER, born in Brooklyn (1923) whose first novel, Catch-22, featured characters named Milo Minderbinder, General Dreedle, and Major Major. The 'catch' in Catch-22 is the Air Force rule stating that a man is insane if he continues to fly combat missions—but if he can manage to make the formal complaint necessary to be relieved of such missions, he must be sane, and therefore may not be relieved of duty.

It's the birthday of author of autobiographical fiction NICCOLO TUCCI, born in Lugano, Switzerland (1908) a longtime contributor to The New Yorker. He's the author of an autobiography, Before My Time (1962), and the novels Unfinished Funeral (1964) and The Sun and the Moon (1977).

It's the birthday of "MOTH ER" JONES, born Mary Harris Jones, in Cork, Ireland (1830). Her husband and 4 children died in a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis (1867). She moved to Chicago and lost everything in the great fire of 1871, then roamed across the country organizing strikes.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®

 

«

»

  • “Writers end up writing stories—or rather, stories' shadows—and they're grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough” —Joy Williams
  • “I want to live other lives. I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances.” —Anne Tyler
  • “Writing is a performance, like singing an aria or dancing a jig” —Stephen Greenblatt
  • “All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • “Good writing is always about things that are important to you, things that are scary to you, things that eat you up.” —John Edgar Wideman
  • “In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.” —Denise Levertov
  • “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” —E.L. Doctorow
  • “Let's face it, writing is hell.” —William Styron
  • “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” —Thomas Mann
  • “Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.” —Paul Rudnick
  • “Writing is a failure. Writing is not only useless, it's spoiled paper.” —Padget Powell
  • “Writing is very hard work and knowing what you're doing the whole time.” —Shelby Foote
  • “I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.” —William Carlos Williams
  • “Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.” —Iris Murdoch
  • “The less conscious one is of being ‘a writer,’ the better the writing.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is…that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.” —Pico Iyer
  • “Writing is my dharma.” —Raja Rao
  • “Writing is a combination of intangible creative fantasy and appallingly hard work.” —Anthony Powell
  • “I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act.” —Michael Cunningham
Current Faves - Learn more about poets featured frequently on the show